Clifton Park church to offer D.A.R.E.-like program

CLIFTON PARK >> A former law enforcement officer is creating a program to help young people resist today's temptations, get on the right track and make choices that will help them to lead happy, productive lives.

Richard "Rit" DiCaprio spent 23 years with the Schenectady Police Department before retiring. While on the force, he was a D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) instructor for six years. The program was cut in Schenectady and Saratoga counties, and DiCaprio thinks the action was shortsighted.

Now a deacon in St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, 569 Clifton Park Center Road, DiCaprio and leaders of the church's youth ministry are creating C.A.R.E., Christian Adolescent Resistance Education. The program is similar to D.A.R.E., but based on scriptures from the Bible.

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The program will give young people lessons in personal care and good behavior, as well as support for standing up to peer pressure, drugs and alcohol. DiCaprio said he wants the program to give adolescents from grade five through high school lessons that will help them make the tough transition from child to adolescent.

The program will be held monthly starting noon Oct. 27 in the church worship area right after the morning's 11 a.m. Mass. Adolescents from Corpus Christi Church and St. Mary's in Crescent also have been invited.

DiCaprio was ordained May 22 and assigned to St. Edwards. When leaders in the church found out about his D.A.R.E. background, they asked if he would work with the youth ministry on a similar program.

"The congregation was pretty upset when the (D.A.R.E.) program was shut down," DiCaprio said. "Kids today are faced with a lot of problems. They need the tools, and I think D.A.R.E. provided those tools, When they realized I had experience in the program, they asked if I'd be willing to work with their kids, and I said I would."

DiCaprio said the program is open to anyone, not just Catholics or even Christians, but he noted that it will be scripture based.

"I only ask that they come with an open mind," DiCaprio said. "I'll cover topics like bullying, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol by using examples right from the community. I'll refer to the scriptures and show how we're seeing the same things today."

He said the D.A.R.E. program stressed that one does not have the right to beat another up.

"We need to get these kids to think before they react," DiCaprio said.

He said he fought for continuing the D.A.R.E. program in Schenectady but could not overcome a demand for data that proved it was beneficial. He called it a great program that should not be seen as a luxury but rather as a necessity.

"That transition from elementary school to middle school is tough and the one from middle school to high school is tougher," DiCaprio said. "I said, 'you're leaving them out to dry. You won't see the results until after the kids graduate.' "

DiCaprio hopes to fill the worship area with youngsters and teens when he holds the first session Oct. 27. Always a realist, he said he would give it his best, even if just five teens show up.

"I've seen it all," he said. "Some guys retire and move to Florida. Others open a bottle. My experience as a police officer brought me to God."